Mark's Top 200 of the Decade

[Maximo Mark]

I know this is a bit early but there's nothing decent coming out in the next two months that I haven't known for ages...

I've managed to get it down to a list of 200 and I hope to start it sometime in the week. Anything is included, whether I knew (or liked) it when it was out or not.


Year breakdown:
2000 - 8
2001 - 14
2002 - 14
2003 - 22
2004 - 19
2005 - 27
2006 - 19
2007 - 30
2008 - 28
2009 - 19

140 songs have male vocals, 51 female, 7 are pretty much equal duets and there are 2 instrumentals. 9 songs were UK number one singles. There are 150 different acts with entries, plus a couple more who are 'featured' artists. 4 acts have three seperate songs, 1 act has five!



Oh, and here are the 100 songs which I got rid of when taking the list from 300 to 200!

A 'Nothing'
A.R. Rahman ft M.I.A. 'O...Saya'
Arcade Fire 'Intervention'
Arctic Monkeys 'Brianstorm'
Arctic Monkeys 'Crying Lightning'
Arctic Monkeys 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
Athlete 'Wires'
Basement Jaxx 'Plug It In'
Bat for Lashes 'Prescilla'
Beyonce & Shakira 'Beautiful Liar'
Beyonce 'Irreplaceable'
Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feeling'
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 'Stop'
Chemical Brothers 'Do It Again'
Chemical Brothers 'Star Guitar'
Chemical Brothers 'The Golden Path'
Christina Milian 'Dip It Low'
Coldplay 'Viva La Vida'
Coldplay 'Yellow'
Cut Copy 'Lights & Music'
Daft Punk 'One More Time'
Dinosaur Jr 'Been There All The Time'
Dizzee Rascal 'Dance Wiv Me'
Dntel 'Roll On'
Dodos 'Winter'
Doves 'Kingdom of Rust'
Doves 'Pounding'
Elbow 'New Born'
Elbow 'The Bones of You'
Ellie Goulding 'Wish I Stayed'
Eminem 'Lose Yourself'
Estelle ft Kanye West 'American Boy'
Franz Ferdinand 'The Fallen'
Funeral For A Friend 'Jeneau'
Girls Aloud 'Love Machine'
Gorillaz 'DARE'
Green Day 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'
Guillemots 'Annie, Let's Not Wait'
Head Automatica 'Beating Heart Baby'
Holly Valance 'Kiss Kiss'
Hope of the States 'Nehemiah'
I'm From Barcelona 'We're From Barcelona'
Incubus 'Megalomaniac'
Jimmy Eat World 'Sweetness'
Justice vs Simian 'We Are Your Friends'
Justin Timberlake 'Cry Me A River'
Kanye West 'Homecoming'
Kasabian 'LSF'
Keane 'Somewhere Only We Know'
Kings of Leon 'Sex On Fire'
Lady Gaga 'Poker Face'
Late of the Pier 'Bathroom Gurgle'
Laura Marling 'Ghosts'
Laura Veirs 'Don't Lose Yourself'
Liam Lynch 'United States of Whatever'
Lily Allen 'LDN'
Little Boots 'New In Town' [Fred Falke Remix]
Long Blondes 'Century'
Los Campesinos! 'My Year In Lists'
Louis XIV 'Finding Out True Love Is Blind'
Maximo Park 'Our Velocity'
Muse 'Uprising'
Nine Black Alps 'Unsatisfied'
Nine Inch Nails 'The Hand That Feeds'
Pendulum 'Propane Nightmares'
Phoenix 'Lisztomania'
Primal Scream 'Country Girl'
R Kelly 'Ignition (Remix)'
Richard Hawley 'Coles Corner'
Santogold 'L.E.S. Artistes'
Scissor Sisters 'Filthy/Gorgeous'
Shinichi Osawa 'Dreamhunt'
Simian Mobile Disco 'Hustler'
Stefy 'Chelsea'
Stellastarr* 'My Coco'
Stereophonics 'Mr Writer'
Sufjan Stevens 'Chicago'
Sugababes 'About You Now'
Sugababes 'Push The Button'
The Bravery 'Unconditional'
The Cribs 'Men's Needs'
The Futureheads 'Decent Days And Nights'
The Futureheads 'Walking Backwards'
The Good, The Bad & The Queen 'Herculean'
The Hives 'Hate To Say I Told You So'
The Hold Steady 'Massive Nights'
The Killers 'All These Things That I've Done'
The Libertines 'Can't Stand Me Now'
The Little Ones 'Oh, Mj!'
The Maccabees 'About Your Dress'
The Pigeon Detectives 'Take Her Back'
The Postal Service 'We Will Become Silhouettes'
The Shortwave Set 'Repeat To Fade'
The Sounds 'Tony The Beat (Push It)'
The Streets 'Don't Mug Yourself'
The Wombats 'Let's Dance To Joy Division'
Tokyo Police Club 'Tessellate'
Wheatus 'Teenage Dirtbag'
Willy Mason 'Oxygen'
Yelle 'A Cause Des Garcons'

[Maximo Mark]

200 The Prodigy 'Omen'
199 Tilly & The Wall 'Beat Control'
198 Train 'Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)'
197 VV Brown 'Crying Blood'
196 Arcade Fire 'Keep The Car Running'
195 Patrick Wolf 'The Magic Position
194 Pet Shop Boys 'Integral'
193 Timbaland ft D.O.E. & Keri Hilson 'The Way I Are'
192 Kanye West 'Jesus Walks'
191 Girls Aloud 'No Good Advice'


So starting with a song from this year in 'Omen' by The Prodigy, it's easily their strongest single for some time. Train appear with a forgotten song from the early part of the decade, it always feels like it should be a guilty pleasure when I listen to it... 2007 has the most entries but four appear straight away (in a row), a first entry for including Arcade Fire and one of 9 UK number ones in 'The Way I Are', something that was a real uni anthem. Kanye and Girls Aloud also commercialise this 10 a bit, both have produced some great singles this decade, only one finer than 'Jesus Walks' or 'No Good Advice'. Pet Shop Boys, Tilly & The Wall and Patrick Wolf also make appearences.

[Maximo Mark]

190 The Magic Numbers 'Forever Lost'
189 The Long Blondes 'Giddy Stratospheres'
188 Supergrass 'Kiss of Life
187 Ian Brown 'F.E.A.R.'
186 Lostprophets 'Last Summer'
185 Underworld 'Two Months Off'
184 Foo Fighters 'Times Like These'
183 Thom Yorke 'Harrowdown Hill'
182 Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Can't Stop'
181 The Knife 'Like a Pen'

The Magic Numbers are a band I thought I'd get bored of fairly quickly, but I really haven't and 'Forever Lost' still sounds as great today as it does when it made number one in my Personal Chart in 2005. The Long Blondes get their first entry, as do Lostprophets, The Knife and Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band who I've not listened to much for a while but I've re-realised had some great singles off their 'By The Way' album. Foo Fighters enter with 'Times Like These', boosted by the Foos being so excellent live and this being a really strong part of their live set. Ian Brown, Supergrass ('Kiss of Life' is incredibly underrated) and Underworld appear, 'Two Months Off' is the longest single in the top 200. And there's also an appearence for Thom Yorke, not bad for somone I so openly dislike.

[TheThorne]

200 The Prodigy 'Omen'
199 Tilly & The Wall 'Beat Control'
198 Train 'Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)'
196 Arcade Fire 'Keep The Car Running'
195 Patrick Wolf 'The Magic Position
194 Pet Shop Boys 'Integral'

Like these especially, feel your list will be a bit wider taste than mine, I lean towards heavier rock and you lean towards pop/rnb

[TheThorne]

190 -181

I like all of these and love about half of them, I have written of Magic Numbers and shoulda given them more of a chance for my list ,there was a lot of great trackson their first record.

[Maximo Mark]

180 Graham Coxon 'Freakin' Out'
179 The Shortwave Set 'Casual Use'
178 Outkast 'Ms Jackson'
177 Christina Aguilera 'Dirrty'
176 Stellastarr* 'Jenny'
175 Babyshambles 'Killamangiro'
174 Foals 'Hummer'
173 Britney Spears 'Piece of Me'
172 Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourners of St. Pauls'
171 Death Cab For Cutie 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark'

Another mixed bag here, some big hits from massive artists, some far from that. Another UK number one appears for Christina, the only song of hers I've properly loved, an early Stellastarr* single, the sole entry for Shortwave Set ('Repeat to Fade' wasn't far off though), a first entry for Outkast, Foals debut 'Hummer' and what is far and away the best single by Britney Spears. There are also 2004 personal chart #1s for Graham Coxon and Babyshambles, and two utterly beautiful songs (about death and funerals) from Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family and Death Cab For Cutie.

[Maximo Mark]

170 Kasabian 'Club Foot'
169 MGMT 'Time to Pretend'
168 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'Higher Than The Stars'
167 The Raconteurs 'Steady, As She Goes'
166 Reverend & The Makers 'Heavyweight Champion of the World'
165 Editors 'Munich'
164 Amy Winehouse 'You Know I'm No Good'
163 Puddle of Mudd 'Blurry'
162 Biffy Clyro 'Just Boy'
161 Razorlight 'Golden Touch'

A slightly more known bunch here, with only one of these acts having not had a UK top 20 single, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, whos retro shoegaze feel has completely blown me away this year. Kasabian's first hit, and almost their finest, 'Club Foot' appears, as do MGMT, The Raconteurs and the unbelievably catchy indie anthems from Reverend & The Makers, Editors and Razorlight. God I wish Razorlight were still good. 'You Know I'm No Good' has always been by far and away by favourite Amy single, shame it got less exposure and sold less than all the others. I've no idea how I ever discovered 'Just Boy', but it's always been the only Biffy song I've ever truly loved. The special mention must however go to Puddle of Mudd. How did a genre I detest so much, has no redeeming features whatsoever (well one; 'Blurry') manage to produce something so utterly beautiful? I should hate everything about it, but I just don't The guiltiest of my guilty pleasures.

[Maximo Mark]

160 Imogen Heap 'Hide and Seek'
159 Little Boots 'Remedy'
158 Rihanna 'Don't Stop The Music'
157 Bloc Party 'I Still Remember'
156 Late of the Pier 'Heartbeat'
155 Dizzee Rascal 'Bonkers'
154 Antony & The Johnsons 'Hope There's Someone'
153 Mystery Jets 'Two Doors Down'
152 Los Campesinos! 'The International Tweexcore Underground'
151 Dr. Dre ft Eminem 'Forgot About Dre'

A#1, a Mercury winner and some epic flops. Imogen Heap with one of the most original and inspired songs in the countdown (how could she lower heself to that DeRulo thing though? ), the first from Boots, who I've obsessed over a little too much and something from Rihanna that's far better than I ever imagined she'd ever come out with. Bloc Party are one of my favourite few acts of the decade, but settle for a sole entry at #157. Oh well, I limited this countdown to singles and my top 5 Bloc songs weren't released... Late of the Pier are one of the most underrated bands of recent years, so much energy, as are Los Campesinos!, more from both of those to come, and Mystery Jets, who's 'Twenty One' album really surprised me, given how average their debut was. Antony's beautiful masterpiece had to feature, and Dizzee and Dre also appear, both with anthems I'd probably like a lot less were it not for people around me.

[Earl Purple]

Still awaiting an NM #1. None of those 50 were.

I would generally agree with you that 2007 was the strongest year of the decade.

[Maximo Mark]

Nov 2, 2009 20:53:42 GMT 1 TheThorne said:

200 The Prodigy 'Omen'
199 Tilly & The Wall 'Beat Control'
198 Train 'Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)'
196 Arcade Fire 'Keep The Car Running'
195 Patrick Wolf 'The Magic Position
194 Pet Shop Boys 'Integral'

Like these especially, feel your list will be a bit wider taste than mine, I lean towards heavier rock and you lean towards pop/rnb

I like to think I have a wide variety of stuff in here, there's a bit of everything and it's not overly poppy...

[Maximo Mark]

Nov 3, 2009 22:44:10 GMT 1 Earl Purple said:

Still awaiting an NM #1. None of those 50 were.

I would generally agree with you that 2007 was the strongest year of the decade.

Whilst 2007 was the year that had the most entries I don't think it was the strongest overall...

[Maximo Mark]

150 Malcolm Middleton 'Fuck It, I Love You'
149 Kings of Leon 'Use Somebody'
148 Glasvegas 'Daddy's Gone'
147 LCD Soundsystem 'Someone Great'
146 Pendulum 'Slam'
145 Jane's Addiction 'Just Because'
144 Regina Spektor 'Fidelity'
143 Amerie 'One Thing'
142 Blink-182 'I Miss You'
141 Sleater-Kinney 'Entertain'

Another very mixed bunch here. Kings of Leon make their first appearence with 'Use Somebody', a song which I've never become even slightly tired of (unlike 'Sex on Fire'), LCD Soundsystem make their first appearence too, both of their entries come at over 6 minutes long. The first of the two instrumentals appear, 'Slam' by Pendulum. I know there are voices in the song, but I still count it as an instrumental. Amerie is perhaps a surprising choice, but I've always loved 'One Thing' and finished high in my End of Year chart of '05. Jane's Addiction are a band I've never been able to get into really, with comeback single 'Just Because' being the only thing I've ever really like. I've gone off Glasvegas a bit this year but I still think 'Daddy's Gone' is great, and Regina is lovely. Surprisingly, 'I Miss You' (utterly gorgeous) is not the only song in here from Blink-182, something that will be a pleasant surprise to some here. The two most unknown here are from Malcolm Middleton and Sleater-Kinney, both are which are incredibly different (acoustic Scot, US female rock). 'Fuck It, I Love You' is a divine on/off love song, and 'Entertain' is something I discovered after picking up a fairly cheap compilation.

[Maximo Mark]

140 Maximo Park 'The Coast Is Always Changing'
139 Feist '1234'
138 The Enemy 'We'll Live And Die In These Towns'
137 Guillemots 'Made Up Love Song #43
136 Wolfman ft Pete Doherty 'For Lovers'
135 White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army
134 Ash 'Burn Baby Burn'
133 TV On The Radio 'Dancing Choose'
132 Stereophonics 'Dakota'
131 Digitalism 'Pogo' [Shinici Osawa Remix]

Feist is the sole female representitive of this 10, with '1234', a song that came to most people's attention after appearing in an iPod advert, a bit of shame it needed that, but at least it god the recognition it deserved. Also here are Maximo Park with their deubt single from late '04, White Stripes with a song accompnained by one my favourite videos of the decade, and there are first appearences for Guillemots and TV On The Radio too. Stereophonics UK#1 'Dakota' is the last great song they made, they've been distictly average since. Ash are a very underrated band but I do find that it's their most known songs that are my favourites, 'Burn Baby Burn' being one of them. 'Pogo' was a song I thought was good, but didn't love upon original release, but then they re-released it as a remix package last year and the Shinichi Osawa remix took the song to a new level of brilliance and was by far my favourite. Most people seem to forget about 'For Lovers' when talking about Pete Doherty, but the #7 single is certainly amongst his finest work and showed a different side to him, it's beautiful. Most surprising here though, for me at least, is the inclusion of The Enemy. After 5 releases from their debut album, none of which I'd been overly impressed with, I decided they were vastly overexposed for such an average band, so never even bothered to hear their next two singles. I then got free tickets to see them live at the beginning of this year and they were excellent, and I've really changed my opinion of them. An ode to distictly average British towns, 'We'll Live And Die In These Towns' is a song I've constantly listened to since and is truly uplifting, even if it is practically 'Going Underground' at a different tempo. Shame I never did check it out.

[Maximo Mark]

130 The Rumble Strips 'Girls & Boys In Love'
129 Franz Ferdinand 'Darts of Pleasure'
128 The Delgados 'Everybody Come Down'
127 The Futureheads 'Area'
126 Oasis 'Songbird'
125 The Knife 'Marble House'
124 Arctic Monkeys 'Fluorescent Adolescent'
123 Late of the Pier 'Space and The Woods'
122 Coldplay 'The Scientist'
121 Muse 'Bliss'

Muse? Oasis? Coldplay? Arctic Monkeys? Franz Ferdinand? How Virgin Absolute Radio!! 'Songbird' is an Oasis song I've always felt was a bit odd, as it sounds so unlike them, it's very different and that's probably why I like it so much. The song above is the second appearence for The Knife, with 'Marble House', but will they appear again later?? It's surely a cert! Speaking of acts with three songs in the countdown, The Futureheads and Muse both make their first appearences. 'Area' is something of a rarity these days, a standalone between album single which wasn't then placed on a re-issue! For a band I'm so fond of, it seems odd Arctic Monkeys should have just the one entry, but like Bloc Party they seem to have kept my favourites unreleased. Coldplay are a band I think get unnecessary stick, they're not great but they're far from being bad. They've made some great songs and 'The Scientist' is certainly one of them, it's not my favourite single of theirs though.... Franz Ferdinand's debut is also here, with what would now probably have been a 'hype' single from 2003. Fans of The Inbetweeners may recognise 'Girls & Boys In Love', which made an appearence in that a couple of times. Released in the saturated indie market in 2007 I thought the Strips might have been a success given that they were so different to all the generic stuff that was about at the time. Late of the Pier have their second entry from the vastly underrated 'Fantasy Black Channel' and the little known Delgados make an appearence with 'Everybody Come Down'. It could so easily have been a hit.

[Maximo Mark]

120 Dandy Warhols 'Bohemian Like You[/b]
119 The Futureheads 'The Beginning of the Twist'
118 Placebo 'Slave to the Wage'
117 Van She 'Cat and the Eye'
116 Ben Folds ft Regina Spektor 'You Don't Know Me'
115 White Lies 'Death'
114 Red Hot Chili Peppers 'By The Way'
113 Queens of the Stone Age 'No One Knows'
112 Roger Sanchez 'Another Chance'
111 Eminem 'Stan'

An almost entirely male dominated 10 here, with 'featuring' appearence from Dido and Regina Spektor the only hint of a female. 'You Don't Know Me is a wonderfully poppy and uplifting song, which I discovered at the back end of last year, and has just kept growing and growing on me as the year hass gone on. Five that most people might recognise here, from Queens of the Stone Age, Chili Peppers and Dandy Warhols which, like most people, I didn't know until the advert, as well as number one singles from Eminem and Roger Sanchez, one of my favourite number one singles of all time and a great summer anthem! Also appearing are Van She from earlier this year, White Lies who I didn't really get until I heard the album, The Futureheads again, and a great lost gem from Placebo.

[Maximo Mark]

110 Interpol 'PDA'
109 The Long Blondes 'Once and Never Again'
108 The Subways 'Rock and Roll Queen'
107 MGMT 'Kids'
106 The Bravery 'An Honest Mistake'
105 The Pipettes 'Dirty Mind'
104 Kasabian 'Underdog'
103 Doves 'Black and White Town'
102 Blur 'Out of Time'
101 Gorillaz 'Feel Good Inc.'

5 entries in this 10 stop 2005 having what would comfortably be the year with the most entries in the top 100. From said year, Gorillaz long running #2 'Feel Good Inc' is the unlucky song just failing the top make the top 100. Also from that year are The Subways with their one great song, Doves, one of my top three most consistantly great acts of the decade, The Bravery who are better than the sub-par Killers people would have you believe and The Pipettes, who's debut album was my soundtrack to the following summer. There are second and final appearences for The Long Blondes, MGMT and Kasabian (with my current personal chart #1) as well as entries from Interpol with the lead track off 'Interpol EP' and Blur, whose 90s quality persisted into this decade with the beautiful 'Out of Time'.

[frag]

Smiley-ratings as per usual... songs in bold reached #1 in my chart.

200 The Prodigy 'Omen'
199 Tilly & The Wall 'Beat Control'
;D 198 Train 'Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)'
;D 197 VV Brown 'Crying Blood'
196 Arcade Fire 'Keep The Car Running'
;D 195 Patrick Wolf 'The Magic Position
194 Pet Shop Boys 'Integral'
193 Timbaland ft D.O.E. & Keri Hilson 'The Way I Are'
192 Kanye West 'Jesus Walks'
191 Girls Aloud 'No Good Advice'

A few pop/hip hop songs here that I don't know/remember. Four or five reached my chart, one #1.

[frag]

(BTW: is only 9/10, if there's a 10, you'll see a )

190 The Magic Numbers 'Forever Lost'
189 The Long Blondes 'Giddy Stratospheres'
188 Supergrass 'Kiss of Life
;D 187 Ian Brown 'F.E.A.R.'
;D 186 Lostprophets 'Last Summer'
185 Underworld 'Two Months Off'
;D 184 Foo Fighters 'Times Like These'
;D 183 Thom Yorke 'Harrowdown Hill'
182 Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Can't Stop'
181 The Knife 'Like a Pen'

I think 'Harrowdown Hill' spent about a month at #2... that could well be enough to get it into my decade-end top 200.

[frag]

180 Graham Coxon 'Freakin' Out'
179 The Shortwave Set 'Casual Use'
178 Outkast 'Ms Jackson'
177 Christina Aguilera 'Dirrty'
176 Stellastarr* 'Jenny'
175 Babyshambles 'Killamangiro'
174 Foals 'Hummer'
173 Britney Spears 'Piece of Me'
172 Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family 'The Mourners of St. Pauls'
171 Death Cab For Cutie 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark'